Pollinator Partnership Action Plan
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POLLINATOR PARTNERSHIP ACTION PLAN Pollinator Health Task Force JUNE 2016 June 22, 2016 On behalf of the Pollinator Health Task Force, we are pleased to transmit the Pollinator Partnership Action Plan (PPAP). The PPAP responds to the President’s emphasis on public-private partnerships in his June 2014 Memorandum “Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.” This special focus on partnerships was reiterated in the Federal Pollinator Strategy commitment to prepare a Partnership Action Plan to amplify the many Federal actions advanced under the Presidential Memorandum through complementary state and private-sector actions. Only through such coordinated national efforts can we expeditiously expand pollinator-health initiatives to achieve the scale necessary to make meaningful and long-term improvements. In particular, Federal agencies are working with the private sector toward ways to institutionalize these changes into business models and public understanding. This reflects the growing understanding of the ecological services provided to humanity by pollinators, and the importance of all lands—even those on the margins—to providing habitat and forage for these creatures. Hon. Tom Vilsack Hon. Gina McCarthy Secretary of Agriculture Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ★ i ★ Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . 1 INTRODUCTION . 3 FOCUS AREA 1: Honey Bee Health . 5 Partnership Priorities . 10 FOCUS AREA 2: Monarch Butterfly Conservation . 12 Partnership Priorities . 16 FOCUS AREA 3: Pollinator Habitat: Land Conservation, Restoration, and Enhancement . 17 Partnership Priorities . 22 ★ iii ★ Executive Summary Bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and other animals provide pollination services that are essential to the survival of flowering plants, and in doing so underpin the diverse ecosystems and agricultural produc- tivity on which humanity depends. Pollinators are responsible for one in every three bites of food we take, with honey bees alone increasing our nation’s crop values by more than 15 billion dollars each year. Many pollinators are in serious decline in the United States and worldwide.1 Responding to these declines, in June 2014 President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum2 establishing the Pollinator Health Task Force (Task Force), a Federal interagency body charged with coordinating Federal efforts to promote pollinator health through research, habitat creation, education and outreach, and public- private partnerships. In May 2015, the Task Force released its national Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators and accompanying Pollinator Research Action Plan,3 outlining needs and priority actions to better understand pollinator losses and improve pollinator health. In particular, these documents outlined three overarching goals for pollinator health in the United States, summarized as: 1. Reduce honey bee overwintering colony losses to no more than 15% within 10 years; 2. Increase the Eastern population of the monarch butterfly to cover approximately 15 acres in the overwintering grounds in Mexico; and, 3. Restore or enhance 7 million acres of land for pollinators over the next 5 years. Achieving these goals will require an “all hands on deck” approach that harnesses the expertise and capabilities of the Federal government, in collaboration with: state, local, and tribal governments; the private, academic, and non-profit sectors; and the general public. Recognizing this broad need, and in response to a directive in the aforementioned Presidential Memorandum, this Pollinator Partnership Action Plan (PPAP) provides examples of successful past and ongoing collaborations between the Federal government and non-Federal institutions to support pollinator health under each of the above goals. It also highlights areas that are ripe for future collaboration. The primary audiences for the PPAP are state and local governments, private companies, universities, community organizations, and other entities that organize and/or represent citizen stakeholders and have the resources needed to implement and support collaborative efforts with Federal agencies. Importantly, the PPAP is not an exhaustive listing of existing4 and possible public-private collaborations, but rather provides a demonstrative sampling of how such collaborations can enhance and accelerate pollinator-health efforts, and build the support necessary to sustain improvements in pollinator health over the long term. A key takeaway is that the exact nature of public-private collaborations can and should take many forms, depending on the particular circumstances of the region targeted and the insti- tutions and populations engaged. Indeed, national enthusiasm and engagement on pollinator health 1. http://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/Pollination_Summary%20for%20policymakers_EN_.pdf 2. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/presidential-memorandum-creating-federal- strategy-promote-health-honey-b 3. https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/05/19/announcing-new-steps-promote-pollinator-health 4. See Appendix A of the Pollinator Research Action Plan for a more extensive list of Web Sites with Resources and Tools for Pollinator Health. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/Pollinator%20Research%20 Action%20Plan%202015.pdf ★ 1 ★ POLLINATOR PARTNERSHIP in response to the President’s leadership and call to action in this area has already motivated a wide range of activities: from schoolchildren planting gardens for the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge; to corporate support for pollinator habitat on business and agricultural lands; to Federal, interstate, and private actions to improve habitat on transportation, powerline, and other rights-of-way. The PPAP seeks to celebrate and lift up these and other collaborative activities as models for future efforts, and to encourage ideas for new and creative ways to engage all sectors in protecting the pollinators on which we all depend. ★ 2 ★ Introduction Pollinators are integral parts of managed and natural ecosystems, providing billions of dollars in pollina- tion services. Today, pollinators face a variety of challenges, including habitat loss due to development, altered land use patterns, and climate change, as well as exposure to pests, pathogens, pesticides, and other stressors. At the direction of President Obama in the 2014 “Presidential Memorandum—Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators”, the Federal Pollinator Health Task Force (Task Force) developed the Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators (Strategy). The Strategy, released in May 2015, describes needs and priority actions to better understand pollinator losses and improve the health of pollinators in the United States, including honey bees and native pollinators. The Strategy focuses on three overarching goals: 1. Honey Bees: Reduce honey bee colony losses during winter (overwintering mortality) to no more than 15% within 10 years. This goal is informed by the previously released Bee Informed Partnership surveys and the newly established quarterly and annual surveys by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Based on the robust data anticipated from the national, statistically-based NASS surveys of beekeepers, the Task Force will develop baseline data and additional goal metrics for winter, summer, and total annual colony loss. 2. Monarch Butterflies: Increase the Eastern population of the monarch butterfly to 225 mil- lion butterflies occupying an area of approximately 15 acres (6 hectares) in the overwintering grounds in Mexico, through domestic/international actions and public-private partnerships, by 2020. 3. Pollinator Habitat Acreage: Restore or enhance 7 million acres of land for pollinators over the next 5 years through Federal actions and public/private partnerships. To support actions to achieve these goals, the Task Force developed a Pollinator Research Action Plan designed to focus Federal efforts on producing the scientific information needed to understand, minimize, and recover from pollinator losses. Task Force agencies also developed pollinator Best Management Practice (BMP) guidance documents for designed and natural landscapes,5 Federally- managed lands,6 and highway roadside maintenance,7 and landscaping standards for Federal buildings.8 The Federal government cannot tackle pollinator challenges alone. In conducting research, habitat restoration, policy development and implementation, and other activities to improve pollinator health, it is imperative that the Federal government leverage the unique knowledge, resources, and capabilities of state, local, and tribal governments; non-governmental organizations; academia; private industry; and individuals and communities. This Pollinator Partnership Action Plan (PPAP) describes ongoing Federal partnerships, and priorities for future partnerships, to support each of the three overarching goals of the Strategy—honey bees, monarch butterflies, and pollinator habitat. While the PPAP is structured to reflect 5. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/supporting_the_health_of_honey_bees_and_other_ pollinators.pdf 6. http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/BMPs/ 7. https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/ecosystems/Pollinators_Roadsides/BMPs_pollinators_roadsides.pdf 8. GSA PBS-P100 Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service, Section 2.5.5 http://www.gsa.gov/portal/ mediaId/127494/fileName/P100_2016.action